Welcome to the first edition of MGOCSM Ektaa.  It has been the desire of the youth to have better unity and fellowship among the three churches as the lines of communication between the churches have been steadily improving following months of dormancy. This bi-monthly newsletter seeks to dispel doubts or questions regarding the inactivity of the Orthodox youth groups in the three churches, intending to prove on the contrary that this vibrant youth group seeks to fulfill the three goals of the MGOCSM namely worship, study and service. Though this first edition seems to be meek in its manifestation, it is our sincere hope that this grows and becomes a channel for expression of the views and opinions of its readers, enriching our spiritual lives and keeping us informed about the activities of the Church youth groups here in Houston and beyond. –Jobi

A Few words from our Regional Coordinator: By the grace of God our youths in the Southern Region are very active in worship, study, and service.  Lately they are more involved in mission work.  Recently the Dallas unit had a blessed and spiritual summer camp where 147 youths participated.  The Houston unit is doing more charity work, and trying to get our older youths to come back to church and fellowship.  I want to congratulate everybody for doing a wonderful job in all areas of the MGOCSM.  Keep up the good work.  I thank all our respected Achens in the Southern Region for supporting our youths in Austin, Dallas, and Houston.  We need to pray for the Oklahoma youths to begin a good unit.  New Orleans is getting involved with the MGOCSM units in Houston and Dallas.  The planning of the Houston MGOCSM retreat for 2004 is in good progress.  Let all youths from Dallas and Houston plan to attend.  May God bless our MGOCSM to shape our youths to be better Christians for Christ.        Rev. Fr. Mammen Mathew

St. Thomas Church

This year the St. Thomas MGOCSM members have revitalized some of the "old-good-ideas" from the past. We have continued the tradition of having Bible studies, but have extended it be having sports on Saturdays for the youth and then end it with an Evening prayer to better prepare these young children for Sunday Qurbana. This was a success this year and I am confident this is a tradition that will last and help our children grow spiritually. Even though we are lacking in the fundraising aspect for MGOCSM, we have made great strides in our Missionary work and Evangelism. I can see that there is a new attitude about Orthodox Missionary work and Evangelism among the youth and that the youth have realized that three church cooperation that is needed to make this grow. I believe that the Holy Spirit is guiding our three churches in the right direction and feel very blessed to be a part of this change.- Submitted by Benji  Mathew

St. Gregorios Church

This past month brought in new changes with the election/ nomination of Tina Peter as the new Secretary and Thomas Mathews (Joci) as the new charity chair.  The monthly Bible study was at Jaimy Thomas’ apartment. The theme was humility and Jaimy shared her thoughts from the bible on this topic after some fun and games (bible trivia). The accounts from the fundraiser/charity project for Daya Bhavan were closed and by the grace of God and through the support of the three churches we were able to send $7309.97 which equals over 3.4 Lakh Rupees.  This money will be used to construct the first hall of the orphanage. 1 Chronicles 29:14 “Everything we have comes from You and we only give what is already Yours.” A letter of thanks was received from Rev. Phillipose Rhambachan which is available at St.Gregorios Church. Our church faced the loss of our dear Pappachayan uncle, we do request for you to pray for his soul and his family. September 27 we invite you to the monthly bible study for St.Gregorios MGOCSM at Stanley’s Apartment.-Submitted by Tina Peter

St. Stephens Church

St. Stephen’s church youth were actively involved in the church camp, which was a refreshing break in summer before we returned to school.  We are in the planning stages of a brand new initiative for our church – an annual golf tournament.  We are excited about this new project and know that it will be a success with God’s grace.  The proceeds from the tournament will partly be given to a charity and partly be kept by the MGOCSM in hopes of some upcoming church renovations.  We are still working on ways of increasing our spirituality and know that the combined three church Bible Study will help to foster this.  The thing we are most proud of is that our MGOCSM members stuck by one another despite our own personal opinions and asked the church to reverse the decision of having English Qurbana only once a month.  Our youth went into a General Body meeting of the church with confidence and convinced our parents to overturn that decision and continue to have English service on two Sundays a month.  We always manage to pull together when it counts!  We hope to see you all at the Oct Bible study at our church.  –Submitted by Stephanie Philip and Shena Cherian

Coordinated three Church activities

Open Door Mission: Saturday, July 19, 2003; 1pm - 4pm

 The Open Door Mission is a Christian based homeless shelter in Downtown Houston.  Twenty Houston MGOCSM members came out to help.  Few of the members served in the kitchen by helping to prepare a meal (namely the girls); while the others (the guys) helped to organize the canned food in their warehouse.  Afterwards, members took a tour of the facilities and got to learn more about the mission while some of the guys played basketball with the Open Door Mission residents.  Thanks to all the members who came out, it was a great time!  A special thanks to Jake Kurian for taking the time to set this up for us.  Glory be to God!

Catholic Charities: Saturday August 23, 2003; 11am-1pm   

Through Catholic Charities, we had the opportunity to help out a family whose house was damaged from Tropical Storm Allison.  Twelve of us helped repaint went to the flood victim's house in north Houston.  The Catholic Charities coordinator supplied paint supplies.  It was fun getting to work together yet again- Submitted by Jake Kurian 

Bible Studies: Our (renewed) first Bible study was at St. Stephen’s Church in July under the guidance of Mammen Achen and Aju Chemmachen. Prabha Abraham and Chemmachen spoke regarding the importance of a purpose driven life. The 3 church Bible study for the month of August was at St. Gregorios. It was ably led by Nancy who led everyone into a thought provoking debate on the issue of creationism versus evolution. We were lucky to have Iranius Thirumeni to lead us in our September Bible study at St.Thomas. Details/ excerpts of his sermon will be included in the next issue. It is very encouraging to see the participation in these Bible studies. The next Bible study will be at St. Stephens Church on the Oct. 5 immediately after church.

Please submit your articles and/or ideas to add your personal touch. Contact Jobi Mathews at 281-235-2571, email kiddo263626@hotmail.com.  We need everyone’s cooperation to help make this a worthwhile newsletter!

A special thanks to the editors: Shena Cherian, Benji Mathew, Joyce Phillip, and Tina Peter